Department for Transport

Dover Port

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is planning to take to prevent queues at the Port of Dover.

Kevin Foster: The Government has already taken a number of steps, including helping secure additional booths at the Port of Dover for border checks by the French Border Police. We have also instigated weekly meetings between the UK and French border authorities to share intelligence and detailed resourcing plans to ensure border staffing can meet expected demand at the juxtaposed controls.We continue to work on improvements to border fluidity and, with the Kent Resilience Forum, to support improvements to existing traffic management plans. These are designed to mitigate the impact of any disruption on the road network.

Public Transport: Hitchin and Harpenden

Bim Afolami: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of a Demand Response Travel project for areas of North Hertfordshire and St Albans District in Hitchin and Harpenden constituency.

Kevin Foster: Whilst it is for Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) to determine and prioritise investment in local transport, the Government’s National Bus Strategy asked all LTAs outside London to publish a Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) covering the full area, including parts with differing needs, such as rural elements. The Strategy encourages new forms of bus provision in areas which are not adequately served by conventional timetabled buses. DRT can play a part in delivering this.Hertfordshire County Council submitted a high-quality BSIP. On 8 August 2022, the Department wrote to the Council’s Transport Director, confirming their funding allocation of up to £29,732,100 (of which £13,190,400 is capital and £16,541,700 is revenue) to support delivery of the BSIP.

M1

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the planned timetable is for completion of National Highways' upgrades of the M1 between junctions 13 and 16.

Kevin Foster: National Highways expects to fully open the M1 J13-16 upgrade before the end of the year.National Highways is opening the M1 upgrade in links, each of which is opening in phases. Link 1 is between junction 13 and Newport Pagnell Services. It began its phased opening in November 2021 and fully opened on Monday 7 March 2022. Link 2 runs between Newport Pagnell Services and junction 15 (Northampton) and Link 3 runs between junction 15 and junction 16 (Upper Heyford Interchange). National Highways expects both of these links to begin their phased opening early this autumn and to be fully open before the end of the year.Safety is National Highways’ top priority and it opens all motorway upgrades in a phased way to ensure they are fully tested and operational before they go live and there is a smooth handover from roadworks teams to on and off-road traffic officers.

Church Commissioners

Church of England: Kirklees

Mark Eastwood: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church has taken to ensure that an (a) Agricultural Land Classification and (b) Soil Assessment is undertaken prior to any applications being submitted to Kirklees Council relating to land at Heybeck, Batley and Chidswell, Dewsbury.

Andrew Selous: The Agricultural Land Classification was reviewed as per the Agricultural Land Classification Map for Yorkshire and the Humber region (ref 10-111c). The site is identified as grade 3 agricultural land and referenced within the Planning Statement. The Environmental Impact Assessment submitted with the application looks at the impact of the development on soil.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Development Aid: Food Poverty

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the International Development Strategy, what assessment she has made of the role of eliminating malnutrition in unlocking the full potential of women; and if her Department will renew its commitment to reach 50 million women at risk of food poverty.

Vicky Ford: The International Development Strategy highlights our commitment toward ending preventable deaths and improving health outcomes for mothers, babies and children. Tackling malnutrition is critical for reducing preventable deaths and it remains a core focus of our work to deliver the objectives of the International Development Strategy including on women and girls.Between April 2015 and March 2020, UK Aid reached 55.1 million young children, women and adolescent girls with nutrition support. The UK has pledged to spend £1.5 billion between 2022 and 2030 on: addressing the nutrition needs of mothers, babies and children, tackling malnutrition in humanitarian emergencies and making sure nutrition is central to the FCDO's wider work over the 8 years to 2030.

Ministry of Defence

National Flagship: Procurement

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the contracts agreed by his Department with (a) the Royal Institute of British Architects on 20 October 2021, procurement reference 307174/1074355 and (b) Burgess Technical Services Ltd on 22 April 2022, procurement reference 311440/1088351, are related to the projects managed by his Department for the design and manufacture of a National Flagship.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 26 August 2021 to Question 27069 on National Flagship: Procurement, whether a successful bidder has been chosen for the contract to design the National Flagship; and when he intends to announce the successful bid.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 26 August 2021 to Question 27069 on National Flagship: Procurement, what amount of compensation will be guaranteed to the supplier of the contract to design the National Flagship if a decision is taken not to proceed with that project; and for how long after the agreement of that contract will that compensation payment be guaranteed.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has (a) spent and (b) committed on the projects managed by his Department for the design and manufacture of a National Flagship as of 5 September 2022.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department intends to award the contract for the manufacturing of a National Flagship; and whether that contract will include compensation clauses if a future decision is taken not to proceed with that project.

Mr Ben Wallace: The design phase is due to complete soon, an announcement will be made in due course.

Nuclear Powered Vessels: Shipbuilding

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the (a) original and (b) current cost expectations for the Core Production Capability programme.

Mr Ben Wallace: The original expected programme cost to completion at initial approval was £1,385 million. The current programme expected cost to completion is £1,822 million. The cost increase is due to changes in programme scope since initial approval along with the combination of additional submarine core manufacturing and facility regeneration costs.

Department for Work and Pensions

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she is taking steps to progress the incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Government policy.

Victoria Prentis: We are fully committed to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which we ratified in 2009. The UK as a general principle does not incorporate international treaties into domestic law. However, the rights of disabled people under this Convention are largely reflected and given effect in existing domestic policies and legislation, including the Equality Act 2010 in England, Scotland and Wales, and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 in Northern Ireland.

Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2022 to Question 112701 on Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses, what plans her Department has to bring forward further legislative proposals to implement changes to the Special Rules for Terminal Illness in Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment.

Victoria Prentis: The Department introduced the Social Security (Special Rules for End of Life) Bill into the House of Lords on 11th May 2022. The Bill will enable people who are thought to be in the final year of their life to get fast-tracked access to Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Attendance Allowance (AA). The measures will amend the definition of end of life in existing legislation, which is based on the claimant having six months or less to live, by replacing it with a new twelve-month definition that aligns with the end-of-life approach taken across the NHS.The Bill has completed all Lords stages and the Commons stages took place on 8th September 2022. This follows similar changes the Department made by secondary legislation to implement the 12-month approach in Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance in April 2022.

Employment and Support Allowance

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of requests made to her Department for compensation for the underpayment of Employment Support Allowance were (a) granted, (b) rejected and (c) still under consideration as on 2 September 2022.

Victoria Prentis: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Employment and Support Allowance

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people contacted her Department to request compensation for the underpayment of Employment Support Allowance since December 2017.

Victoria Prentis: The information requested is not available.

Access to Work Programme

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure support for individuals currently employed under the Temporary Employment Support Grant under Access to Work programs continues to move forward.

Victoria Prentis: The Transitional Employer Support Grant is a flat-rate time-limited grant paid by Access to Work to fund the in-work support needs of disabled individuals working in Supported Businesses who previously delivered the Work Choice programme. This grant is providing transitional protection for disabled employees while a long-term funding model is developed. A new more personalised funding model is currently being piloted which offers disabled employees more tailored support and recognises the adaptations the employer has made. If the new model is successful it is expected to replace the Transitional Employer Support Grant.

Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) 20th, (b) 40th, (c) 60th and (d) 80th percentile of average waiting times was for receiving the outcome of a Personal Independence Payment assessment in each month since May 2021.

Victoria Prentis: This information is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Access to Work Programme

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Government has made of the efficacy of the system whereby people in receipt of support through Access to Work have to reapply for that support if they change job, even in cases where their need for support has not changed; and if she will make a statement.

Victoria Prentis: Access to Work (AtW) is committed to transforming the service, disabled people receive and improving customer experience. The AtW Transformation Programme is progressively digitising the AtW service to enable customers to apply for and claim AtW payments more conveniently online. As part of this we are exploring streamlining current processes including reviewing the circumstances and frequency where new applications are required. A flexible application has been introduced to support disabled people to access freelancer and contractor opportunities and remove the need for them to re-apply for Access to Work every time a new period of employment begins. The flexible application offers greater flexibility for disabled people to move between jobs and helps to reduce the need for repeated holistic assessments where their needs remain the same.

Carer's Allowance

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason it is her Department's policy that pensioners are not eligible to claim carers allowance; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending eligibility of carers allowance to carers who are pensioners.

Victoria Prentis: I refer the honourable member to the answer my colleague, Chloe Smith, the Minister for Disabled People gave on 20 April 2022 to question UIN 154461 It should be noted that Carer’s Allowance is a devolved benefit in Scotland. However, while the Scottish Government builds its capacity to deliver a replacement, DWP Ministers have agreed that the Department should continue to administer Carer’s Allowance on behalf of the Scottish Ministers under an Agency Agreement, on the same basis as it is administered in England and Wales.

Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to provide additional financial support to people receiving end of life care in the context of the cost of living crisis.

Victoria Prentis: The Government wants to do all it can to alleviate the pressures on those nearing the end of their lives, and on their familiesThe main way that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) does this is through special benefit rules, sometimes referred to as “the Special Rules”. These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment, serve waiting periods and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit. For many years, the Special Rules have applied to people who have 6 months or less to live and now they are being changed so they apply to people who have 12 months or less to live.These changes are well underway. From 4 April 2022, the Government changed the eligibility for the Special Rules in Universal Credit (UC) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). The Social Security (Special Rules for End of Life) Bill, currently being debated in Parliament, aims to make similar changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA)Once the change has been fully rolled out across all benefits, each year, between 30,000 and 60,000 people may benefit from these changes to the Special Rules. This will mean that the Government is spending approximately £115 million a year more on people who are nearing the end of their lives.

Terminal Illnesses

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in the context of the rising cost of (a) food and (b) domestic bills, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional targeted support to people with terminal illnesses.

Victoria Prentis: The Government wants to do all it can to alleviate the pressures on those nearing the end of their lives, and on their families The main way that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) does this is through special benefit rules, sometimes referred to as “the Special Rules”. These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment, serve waiting periods and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit. For many years, the Special Rules have applied to people who have 6 months or less to live and now they are being changed so they apply to people who have 12 months or less to live.These changes are well underway. From 4 April 2022, the Government changed the eligibility for the Special Rules in Universal Credit (UC) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). The Social Security (Special Rules for End of Life) Bill, currently being debated in Parliament, aims to make similar changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA) Once the change has been fully rolled out across all benefits, each year, between 30,000 and 60,000 people may benefit from these changes to the Special Rules. This will mean that the Government is spending approximately £115 million a year more on people who are nearing the end of their lives.

Social Security Benefits: Dyslexia

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will (a) review and (b) increase the support it offers to claimants with dyslexia.

Victoria Prentis: People whose capability for work is affected because they are disabled or have a health condition, including people who have dyslexia, may be eligible for New Style Employment and Support Allowance and/or Universal Credit, subject to satisfying their eligibility conditions. The Work Capability Assessment determines an individual’s capability for work. For people found to have limited capability for work, their Jobcentre work coach uses their discretion to set work-related activity, appropriate to the claimant's circumstances and capability, to help them prepare to start work when they are able. People who have limited capability for work and work-related activity are not required to carry out any work-related activity but can do so if they wish. People who have dyslexia may also be eligible for Personal Independence Payment, to help meet the extra costs of living faced by disabled people and people with health conditions.

Beer: Air Pollution

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of the Health and Safety Executive strengthening regulation regarding the monitoring of air quality around clean-in-place systems in breweries.

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of legal safety standards for the use of clean-in-place systems in the brewing industry; and if he will make it his policy to mandate the placing of leakage detecting air testing devices around those systems in breweries.

Victoria Prentis: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) already has in place an effective regulatory regime to protect employees from substances hazardous to health in the workplace under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002. The regulations place duties on employers, including those running clean-in-place systems in a brewery, to assess the risk of exposure to substances hazardous to health arising from their activities. HSE publishes Workplace Exposure Limits to help employers define the standard they need to meet. Arising from this, employers are required to put in place appropriate controls to prevent or control exposure of employees to those substances hazardous to health by inhalation, ingestion etc. in the workplace. The COSHH Regulations 2002 also set out a hierarchy of control measures that should be applied when assessing the effective prevention or control of exposure to substances hazardous to health. Any requirement for an individual brewery to use leakage detection devices should be identified in the risk assessment process and provided by the employer.

Social Security Benefits: Encephalitis

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides to benefit claimants who (a) are suffering from Encephalitis and (b) have limited capacity for work.

Victoria Prentis: People whose capability for work is affected because they are disabled or have a health condition, including people who have encephalitis, may be eligible for New Style Employment and Support Allowance and/or Universal Credit, subject to satisfying their eligibility conditions. The Work Capability Assessment determines an individual’s capability for work. For people found to have limited capability for work, their Jobcentre work coach uses their discretion to set work-related activity, appropriate to the claimant's circumstances and capability, to help them prepare to start work when they are able. People who have limited capability for work and work-related activity are not required to carry out any work-related activity, but can do so if they wish. People who have encephalitis may also be eligible for Personal Independence Payment, to help meet the extra costs of living faced by disabled people and people with health conditions.

Working Conditions: Weather

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to consult relevant stakeholders on the health and safety implications for workers of working in extreme weather.

Victoria Prentis: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer to PQs (UINs: 42271 and 42272) on 5 September 2022. Officials at the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) keep emerging scientific and economic evidence under review, including working with other organisations to share knowledge and, where necessary, refresh the guidance published on its website. In August, HSE released a press release highlighting the need for employers to prepare for a warmer future. The press release underlined the measures that employers should begin to take to ensure workplaces are comfortable for workers as elevated temperatures become more frequent.

Employment and Support Allowance

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has taken steps to to identify and inform claimants affected by underpayment of Employment Support Allowance of the right to request compensation.

Victoria Prentis: The Employment and Support Allowance underpayment exercise was completed in June 2021. We have ensured people have been rightly identified and reimbursed arrears owed, making 118,000 benefit arrears payments in full. Given our duty to protect public money the decision was taken not to award blanket compensation for these cases. However, where an individual feels their circumstances are exceptional and they may be eligible for a Special Payment, they can contact the Department and set out their reasons. All requests received will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Employment and Support Allowance

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report entitled An investigation into the Department for Work and Pensions’ handling of Ms U’s migration to Employment and Support Allowance, published by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on 13 January 2022, for what reason her Department has not implemented the recommendation to pay compensation to people who were underpaid Employment Support Allowance beyond the arrears owed.

Victoria Prentis: The Department carefully considers all recommendations made by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). This case is no different, and following the publication of the report, we took swift action to apologise unreservedly to Ms U for the failures made in her case and paid her the recommended consolatory payment plus interest on the arrears that were paid in 2017 as recommended in the PHSO report. With regards to the other systemic recommendations on compensation made in the report the Department does not consider these to be a reasonable or proportionate course of action to take. We have ensured people have been rightly reimbursed arrears of Employment and Support Allowance owed as part of the special exercise, making 118,000 benefit arrears payments in full. Where an individual feels their circumstances are exceptional and they may be eligible for a Special Payment, they can contact the Department and set out their reasons. All requests received will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Employment and Support Allowance

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total value of compensation payments made following underpayment of Employment Support Allowance.

Victoria Prentis: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Motability

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the value for money of the Government’s funding of Motobilty in the context of waiting times for recipients entitled to Motability Allowance to be assessed for a licence renewal.

Victoria Prentis: The Department works closely with Motability, and is responsible for the disability benefits that provide a passport to the Motability Scheme. Motability is an independent charitable organisation that is wholly responsible for the terms and the administration of the Scheme, along with oversight of Motability Operations. Motability benefits from government support through tax concessions and the direct payment of mobility allowances. There have been several external reports, including one by the National Audit Office (NAO) in December 2018, on the Motability Scheme. The Department agrees with the NAO’s finding that the Motability scheme provides an excellent service and that the Scheme is focused on delivering value for money. The Department continues to work with Motability the charity, who set the strategic policies and direction of the Scheme, to ensure that disabled people receive a value for money service with high standards for customer service. The Department is unable to comment on waiting times for licence renewal as this is outside our remit.

Visual Impairment: Cost of Living

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the impact of the rise in the cost of living on people who are blind and partially sighted.

Victoria Prentis: While there has been no formal assessment of the impact of the rise in the cost of living on people who are blind and partially sighted, my colleague the Minister for Disabled People has commissioned officials to investigate the lived experience of disabled people resulting from the rising cost of living. Over the summer a number of meetings and focus groups have taken place to hear disabled people's experiences, including one which was set up jointly with RNIB. Alongside this officials are building the evidence base on how cost of living is impacting disabled people. This information will feed into the Government’s considered response.

Disability: Playgrounds

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the policy paper entitled National Disability Strategy: Part One: practical steps now to improve disabled people's everyday lives, published on 28 July 2021, what recent progress her Department has made on making playgrounds more inclusive as part of widening access to arts, culture, sport and the great outdoors.

Victoria Prentis: Ensuring that playgrounds are accessible is an important part of driving forward inclusion for disabled children. The National Disability Strategy included an action to publish a new National Model Design code, supported by guidance, to stress the importance of providing accessible and inclusive play spaces and equipment for all. The new Code was published by the government in July 2021. It is vitally important for all local authorities to consider their duties and legal obligations under the Equalities Act of 2010 and ensure that new and refurbished play areas are accessible and inclusive. I have continued to meet regularly with Ministerial Disability Champions across government to drive progress on priority areas for disabled people, including on accessible playgrounds.

Access to Work Programme

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to review the service standard Access To Work application timescales from application to approval.

Victoria Prentis: Access to Work has received significant increase in applications over the last year and have recruited new staff to meet the increased demand and reduce the time it takes to make decisions. We are also transforming the Access to Work service through increased digitalisation, that will make the service more efficient, will make the application process easier, and improve the time taken from application through to decision.

Access to Work Programme

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the (a) evidence and (b) definition of in-work support required for a supported employee is clearly outlined to employers who employ people under Access to Work Plus.

Victoria Prentis: Access to Work Plus is testing whether providing additional support for employers who are willing to do more and flex job roles for employees who need more than standard Access to Work, can help unlock more employment opportunities for disabled people. Access to Work will use its contracted supplier who have suitably qualified assessors to identify the employees in-work support needs and the adaptations the employer has made to the workplace and the job role to accommodate the employee. Access to Work already provides general advice on workplace adjustments for employers who employ disabled people, however, is unable to provide personalised advice as it is dependent on individual need. The Access to Work holistic assessment builds on this advice and considers the employee’s working environment, including any adjustments the employer has made. The assessment is carried out in the workplace with the employee and the employer present, the assessment will make tailored recommendations for the disabled employee and offer advice for employers on the support they can provide for their employee.The Access to Work case manager will use the assessments recommendations to determine if the employer satisfies the Access to Work Plus criteria. To help build employer understanding of Access to Work Plus and the process used to determine eligibility, a series of communications have been developed and shared with a range of stakeholders, including Disability Confident employers and Jobcentre Plus. The reaction to these communications will be monitored to help inform further communication products and amended as necessary.

Personal Independence Payment: Overpayments

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a time limit on the (a) re-assessment and (b) removal of previously granted Personal Independence Payment awards in order that claimants are not in debt for overpayments of awards where the evidence base her Department has available to it for the original provision of that award has altered.

Victoria Prentis: Overpayments may arise due to official error or the claimant misrepresenting their circumstances or failing to report an adverse change of circumstances in time. All potential overpayments are considered on the facts with recovery being decided on a case-by-case basis. There are no plans to introduce a time-limit to recovery of an overpayment. We are committed to making assessment decisions in a timely way and ensuring that the right outcome is reached.

Access to Work Programme

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for an Access to Work grant application to be processed in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 and (d) 2022.

Victoria Prentis: The average processing times are shown below. Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.  2018/19 13.2 days2019/20 25.5 days2020/21 28.1 days2021/22 28.3 days

Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of when the average waiting time for a Personal Independence Payment assessment will return to that prior to the covid-19 outbreak.

Victoria Prentis: We do not forecast Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment waiting times.  In February 2020, pre-covid, the median waiting time for a PIP assessment was 9 weeks for new claims, and 10 weeks for reassessments. In April 2022 (the latest available data) the median times waiting for a PIP assessment was 12 weeks for new claims and 11 weeks for reassessments. Time waiting for a PIP assessment is defined as the time from the date an application was referred to the provider from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to the date the assessment was completed and referred back to DWP. Where claimants are outstanding, the assessment is not yet complete. Median waiting times for each stage of the claimant process can be found in published stats.

Access to Work Programme

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potentials merits of extending Access To Work support to the newly self-employed, in the context of an individual not have an income straight away.

Victoria Prentis: Access to Work already offers support for newly self-employed disabled people operating a business. Access to Work can provide funding for in-work support needs for up to 3 years. At the end of this period the individual must have a business turnover which meets the Access to Work Lower Earnings Limit, currently £6,396. If this is not possible, Access to Work funding will stop.For self-employed freelancers and contractors, as long as their contract value is equivalent to the National Minimum Wage and they satisfy the Access to Work eligibility criteria, grant funding can be provided for their in-work support needs for the length of the contract.To support self-employed freelancers and contractors, Access to Work has introduced a Flexible Application to provide greater flexibility for disabled people to take up time limited contracts and freelance opportunities. The flexible application helps to avoid the need for re-applications for Access to Work every time a new period of employment begins and removes the need for repeated holistic assessments where the individual’s needs are unchanged.

Department for Work and Pensions: Staff

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department spent on staffing costs for the preparation of Contract Notice 2021/S 000-028407 (Functional Assessment Services (FAS) 2023).

Victoria Prentis: Activity to procure new Functional Assessment Services is underway as part of the Health Transformation Programme’s broader work to modernise health and disability benefit services. New contracts will bring together current Health and Disability Assessment Services and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments under single geographic contracts. These will form a building block for a new integrated Health Assessment Service, which is being developed by the programme. This work involves a broad range of staff from across the programme and from other parts of DWP and, as such, it is not possible to isolate the amount spent on staffing costs for the preparation of the contract notice alone.

Personal Independence Payment: Long Covid

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with long covid have been awarded the Personal Independence Payment (a) daily living standard, (b) daily living enhanced, (c) mobility standard and (d) mobility enhanced rate since March 2021.

Victoria Prentis: The latest available data on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) decisions split by type of decision (i.e. whether the claim was awarded, disallowed or withdrawn), main disabling condition, and Daily Living and Mobility award, can be found on Stat-Xplore. The relevant categorisation is ‘Coronavirus Covid-19' and can be found under the disability subcategory ‘Viral diseases’ which is under the main disability category of ‘Infectious disease’. Data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer systems. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is available for statistical purposes and shown in these statistics. Therefore there may be other claimants where the ongoing impact of a Covid infection has influenced the award of PIP. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here.

Jobcentres: Visual Impairment

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the cost of deploying (a) screen readers, (b) speech recognition software and (c) screen magnification software to customer computer kiosks in jobcentres.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to provide disabled jobseekers with access to (a) screen readers, (b) speech recognition software and (c) screen magnification software.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to take steps to improve the provision of assistive technology in jobcentres.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Department offers support to disabled jobseekers who require assistive technology in order to look for work and who cannot afford the cost of buying that technology.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobcentres have specialist assistive technology installed on their customer computer kiosks.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in how many jobcentres are each of the following forms of specialist assistive technology installed for customer use: (a) Screen reader (b) Speech recognition software (c) Screen magnification software.

Victoria Prentis: We do not hold the information requested around costs for deployment of screen readers, speech recognition software and screen magnification software to our computers for use by customers. This is because the computers contain these products as a standard feature and were not purchased separately. These products are kept up to date and maintained in line with updates to the system as a whole. DWP has completed an upgrade of all Customer Computers across the whole Jobcentre network which means that all devices provided for use by customers have the standard accessibility features available such as being able to change the screen size & colour, replacing sounds with screen alerts, converting sounds to text and using the screen reader to read text. We now have over 7973 devices across our estate, registered with these accessibility features. The numbers of computers available for customers to use in jobcentres will differ between larger and smaller offices. We also constantly review the number of computers available and have capacity to increase the number of devices quickly, if the need arises. The software in use on these machines is continually upgraded as and when required to ensure their continued use for customers. In addition to this further support is available to customers where reasonable adjustments are identified and recorded. Each Jobcentre District Office has been provided with the following items for use by customers if requested: A keyboard with larger keysA large trackball mouseHeadphones. However, many people will want to use their own We have opened a number of new sites across the estate to support delivery of face to face public services. As part of this work, Customer Computers are available in these sites. We have also improved access to our Wi-Fi services in all jobcentres, allowing customers to use their own personal devices if they prefer, to access internet services.

Long Covid

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 27 June 2022 to Question 21271 on Long Covid, what progress her Department has made on investigating whether COVID can be classified as an occupational disease.

Victoria Prentis: The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (“IIAC”) advises Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on matters related to occupational diseases which may qualify for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit. IIAC has reviewed the evidence relating to the long-term consequences of COVID-19 infections and hopes to publish a report in the next few months focusing on those post-COVID complications arising from both COVID directly and/or treatment and for which there is sufficient evidence of loss of faculty and potential long-term disability.

Cost of Living Payments: Universal Credit

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the decision taken that Universal Credit claimants will not be eligible for the cost of living payment if they had their Universal Credit award reduced to zero by the minimum income floor and did not receive a Universal Credit payment during the qualifying month; and if her Department will publish statistics to show how many claimants will be affected by that policy.

David Rutley: No assessment has been made,We have deliberately kept the rules for these payments as simple as possible. This is the only way we can ensure that we can develop the systems and processes required to make these payments. The cost-of-living payment is being made in two payments which have different qualifying periods, this will mean that some people may not receive the first payment but may receive the second payment. Information showing the number of claimants that may be affected by this Policy is not readily available, and this would only be possible at a disproportionate cost. Should people find that they need further support, they may wish to approach their Local Authority to ask about support under the Household Support Fund. For further information please see Cost of Living Payment - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) The following PQ regarding the MIF and Universal Credit may be of interest Written questions and answers- Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament

Cost of Living Payments: Universal Credit

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department made before introducing the Social Security (Additional Payments) Bill of the potential impact on Universal Credit claimants, including those working in the performing arts and entertainment industries who have fluctuating earnings, of the policy that Universal Credit claimants would not be eligible for the cost of living payment if they had their Universal Credit award reduced to zero by the minimum income floor and did not receive a Universal Credit payment during the qualifying month.

David Rutley: No assessment has been made.We have deliberately kept the rules for these payments as simple as possible. This is the only way we can ensure that we can develop the systems and processes required to make these payments. The cost-of-living payment is being made in two payments which have different qualifying periods, this will mean that some people may not receive the first payment but may receive the second payment. Should people find that they need further support, they may wish to approach their Local Authority to ask about support under the Household Support Fund. For further information please see Cost of Living Payment - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) The following PQ regarding the MIF and Universal Credit may be of interest Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament

Jobcentres: Disability

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate the Department has made of the average waiting time to see a disability employment adviser.

Victoria Prentis: Disability Employment Advisors (DEAs) work alongside Jobcentre Work Coaches to support claimants - providing expert knowledge on how to support customers who have a health condition or disability and building the skills and capability of Work Coaches. DEA’s can also directly support customers with health conditions and disabilities where this can benefit the customer. Every Work Coach in every Jobcentre has access to a DEA. We do not collect data on average waiting times, however, customers will have regular contact with their Work Coach who can case conference with a DEA to discuss how best to support the customer and arrange access to the DEA at the earliest availability.

Jobcentres: Email and Internet

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to introduce either (a) direct email addresses or (b) a contact webform to allow claimants of social security benefits other than Universal Credit to (i) notify their local Job Centre Plus office of a change of circumstances and (ii) request a call back from a benefits advisor.

David Rutley: DWP is currently working with Digital colleagues to develop a contact webform for customers to notify changes of circumstances regarding their benefits.

Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to take steps to reduce the number of Personal Independence Payment assessments that remain outstanding prior to increasing the rate at which legacy benefit recipients are moved onto Universal Credit.

Victoria Prentis: PIP assessments and decisions are made independently of other benefits and have no impact on the pace at which legacy benefit recipients are moved onto Universal Credit. We are seeing a gradual improvement in PIP journey times. The latest statistics show that the end-to-end journey for new and renewal claimants has steadily reduced from 26 weeks in August 2021 to 20 weeks at the end of April 2022.  In May 2022 Universal Credit started to bring a small number of claimants across the country into the mandatory migration process. We will continue to develop our processes and systems to scale the migration process and complete by 2024.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Bakery Products: Labelling

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to require retailers to display ingredients lists for bakery products that are sold unwrapped.

Mark Spencer: The UK has high standards on the information provided on food labels. Existing food labelling rules, including ingredient listing, ensure that food is produced safely and labelled effectively to enable consumers to make informed choices on the food they buy and consume. For practical reasons, there are fewer mandatory labelling rules when food is sold loose. For loose food, the name of the food and allergen information must be made available, and for loose meat products, the amount of meat in those products must be providedThe Government is committed to optimising the information that is available to consumers, and the Government Food Strategy sets out work that we will be taking forward on consumer information and transparency.

Bread

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of proposals in the Real Bread Campaign’s Honest Crust Act to require (a) full ingredient declarations and (b) legal definitions of commonly-used market terms for bread produced by (i) supermarkets and (ii) bakeries.

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring (a) full ingredient declaration and (b) meaningful, legal definitions of commonly-used marketing terms in its review of the Bread and Flour Regulations.

Mark Spencer: The UK Government and the Devolved Administrations committed to carry out a review of Bread and Flour Regulations across the UK. The key proposals for change are outlined in a public consultation published on 1 September 2022 which is open for responses until 23 November 2022. The proposals address the most pressing aspects identified for change including the addition of mandatory folic acid to flour to prevent neural tube defects in foetuses. Full ingredient listing is already required for all prepacked foods with loose foods subject to certain derogations for practical reasons. An update of existing guidance around commonly used marketing terms across all foods is planned for the future.

Cereal Products: Labelling

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will bring forward legislative proposals to introduce a mandatory minimum percentage of unrefined grain ingredients in products marketed using the word wholegrain.

Mark Spencer: The UK Government and the Devolved Administrations committed to carry out a review of Bread and Flour Regulations across the UK. The key proposals for change are outlined in a public consultation published on 1 September 2022 which is open for responses until 23 November 2022. The rules on bread flour already place restrictions on the use of the word 'wholemeal' and 'wheat germ'. The use of the term wholegrain covers a much wider range of foods and could be addressed within a planned update of existing guidance on food marketing terms.

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Bim Afolami: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits for a community of being included in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Bim Afolami: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact on farming communities of being located within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Mark Spencer: The power to consider areas for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) designation lies with Natural England (NE), which then makes an order to be confirmed by the Secretary of State.NE's designation assessment process includes the consideration of the statutory criterion for AONB designation (outstanding natural beauty), including relevant factors of landscape and scenic quality, relative wildness, relative tranquillity, and the contributions made to natural beauty by natural and cultural heritage features and associations. NE's assessment process also includes working collaboratively with local partners to ensure there are good engagement and consultation opportunities during the process, which will take into consideration the impact of views presented by farmers, local communities, statutory bodies, stakeholder organisations, landowners, and the wider public.

Fertilisers: Prices

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of natural gas prices on fertiliser costs in the UK.

Mark Spencer: Due to the increase in cost of natural gas across the globe, a key feedstock for the production of nitrogen-based fertiliser products including ammonium nitrate, the cost of production of these fertiliser types has increased significantly. It has also affected Europe and the global market with some fertiliser companies halting or reducing production due to high input costs, leading to some countries such as China reducing the export of some fertiliser products to protect their domestic demands. Britain sources fertiliser from a wide range of countries and also produces fertiliser such as ammonium nitrate domestically. CF Fertilisers continues to produce ammonium nitrate fertiliser from its plant at Billingham, although it has recently announced it will switch to imported ammonia in future, rather producing ammonia domestically. Fertiliser use is determined partly by fertiliser prices, but also by other factors such as commodity prices. Fertiliser supply in Britain is resilient, although prices are volatile caused by fluctuating gas prices. Defra has hosted Fertiliser Taskforce meetings with key industry figures including the National Farmers Union and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, and will continue to collaborate with industry on fertiliser price transparency. We are continuing to monitor the security and stability of fertiliser and other supply chains, work closely with colleagues across government and devolved administrations and industry figures.

Agriculture: Government Assistance

Bim Afolami: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what additional support his Department has provided to farmers since the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020.

Mark Spencer: We will maintain current average levels of investment in farming of £2.4 billion per year in England over the life of this Parliament. All funding released from reductions in Direct Payments are being re-invested into delivering new schemes that contribute to our three goals: supporting viable businesses, maintaining food production at its current level, and achieving animal health, welfare and climate outcomes.For example, we are introducing three new schemes that reward environmental benefits including the Sustainable Farming Incentive which farmers and land managers can now apply online for.Defra has also launched the new Farming Investment Fund which offers funding for equipment, technology, and infrastructure that improves farm productivity and benefits the environment.Last October, we launched the Farming Innovation Programme with an initial £17.5 million, which encourages groups of farmers, growers, businesses, and researchers to get involved in collaborative research and development. This will support and drive adoption of new innovation by farmers and growers to ensure it can make a real difference.Since 2020, farmers have continued to receive financial support for delivering environmental outcomes through the Environmental Stewardship and Countryside Stewardship agri-environment schemes. Since 2021, Defra has made a number of changes to improve the application process for farmers for Countryside Stewardship, and updated payment rates.

Fertilisers

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential role of alternatives to fossil fuel dependent fertiliser in ensuring fertiliser availability for the agriculture sector.

Mark Spencer: Defra is committed to promoting the use of less environmentally damaging fertilisers and better nutrient use efficiency. The efficient use of organic fertilisers can complement the use of mineral fertilisers, whilst reducing input costs. We know many farmers already use organic fertiliser to complement their nutrient management planning. Given current fertiliser prices, a priority must be to pioneer new technologies to manufacture more organic-based fertiliser products in future and we will support the development of these through the Farming Innovation Programme. We are providing financial support to help farmers make best use of their manures and slurries, to complement inorganic fertilisers. We must also look at alternatives to fertiliser, using techniques like nitrogen fixing legumes and clovers. We have therefore announced that the Government will pay farmers, through the Sustainable Farming Incentive, to help them with the costs of sowing nitrogen fixing plants and green manures in their crops - or in advance of their crops - to complement some of their fertiliser requirements.We aim to streamline current regulation and implement a conformity assessment framework for fertilisers which will valorise fertilisers made from waste materials and provide farmers with a wider choice of more sustainable fertilisers.

Agriculture: Land

Bim Afolami: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help protect high-grade agricultural land from (a) housing and (b) other non-agricultural developments.

Mark Spencer: We work closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to ensure that planning supports agriculture and food production as well as delivering other goals. This is reflected in the National Planning Policy Framework. The Framework makes clear that local planning authorities should take into account all the benefits of the best and most versatile agricultural land.Where significant development of agricultural land is shown to be necessary, planning authorities should seek to use poorer quality land in preference to that of a higher quality.

Foie Gras: Imports

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 May 2022 to Question 3523 on Foie Gras: Imports, if he will set out a timetable to bring forward legislative proposals on banning the import of foie gras as set out in his Department’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare.

Mark Spencer: As set out in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare, the Government is actively considering any further steps that could be taken in relation to UK consumption of foie gras that is produced overseas using force-feeding practices. No decisions have been made yet in relation to the import and sale of foie gras. The Government continues to build a clear evidence base to inform decisions and will use this to inform any potential action in this area.

Agriculture: Hitchin and Harpenden

Bim Afolami: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help (a) farmers and (b) food producers in Hitchin and Harpenden constituency use sustainable farming methods.

Mark Spencer: Farming in England is now going through the biggest change in a generation. As government, our approach to working with the farming sector is changing too. Food is still the primary purpose of farming, and always will be. But if we want farming and food production to be resilient and sustainable over the long term, then farming and nature can and must go hand in hand.In 2022 we started to roll out some core elements of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). We will gradually expand the scheme until all elements are available from 2024/25 onwards. In its early years, the scheme will focus on supporting and maintaining environmentally sustainable farming improvements that most farmers can make, such as soil and livestock management, pesticide use and fertiliser use. The core elements of the SFI that are available as of June 2022 are: arable and horticultural soils standard; improved grassland soils standard; and moorland standard which will be followed by the Annual Health and Welfare Review.Local Nature Recovery is the improved and more ambitious successor to the Countryside Stewardship scheme in England. It will pay for locally-targeted actions to make space for nature in the farmed landscape and the wider countryside, alongside food production. We plan to make an early version of the scheme available to a limited number of people in 2023 as part of our plans for testing and rolling out the scheme. We will then roll out the scheme across the whole country by the end of 2024.

Cereals: Ukraine

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing funding for (a) increased seed production and (b) expanded agricultural land acquisition for seed production for grain crops to be provided as aid to farmers in Ukraine.

Mark Spencer: Defra officials have been working with a range of businesses and trade associations who have an interest in re-opening and helping export grain and oilseeds out of Ukraine. The recently launched EU - Ukraine business matchmaking platform is just one programme that is helping facilitate logistics operations for exporting and importing goods to and from Ukraine. This tool will connect UK and Ukrainian businesses quickly to find pragmatic solutions to the export of agricultural produce from Ukraine, to support the Ukrainian economy and global trade, and alleviate this threat to food security. Defra officials and ministers have also arranged introductions to the Ukrainian government to facilitate support on a range of products, such as seeds and machinery, and continue to engage with the sector to support a coordinated approach.

Dairy Products: Exports

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of the Food is GREAT campaign on levels of British dairy exports.

Mark Spencer: The UK Government's food and drink promotional activity overseas is led by the GREAT campaign team in Defra and delivered in partnership with the Department for International Trade (DIT). It is active in Japan, China, the USA and UAE.While there has been a downturn in global exports due to the pandemic, the GREAT Food and Drink campaign has continued to support DIT export objectives through collaborative development of promotional initiatives that convert to export wins.In the last year the GREAT Food and Drink campaign supported export wins of over £75 million, including dairy exports wins of £25million; a return on investment of 50:1.

Dairy Products: Labelling

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he (a) has had and (b) plans to have with representatives of supermarkets on encouraging customers to (i) understand the red traffic label in terms of product assurance and (ii) buy British when choosing dairy products.

Mark Spencer: Defra regularly engages with retailers and hosts a monthly Retailer Forum. This allows Government to maintain a full picture of the issues affecting the supply chain, discuss retailers' role in delivering Government objectives, introduce emerging policies and address sectoral concerns such as labour supply.This Government is delivering on its Manifesto commitment for people at home and abroad to be lining up to buy British. British dairy has a great reputation for quality, built on high animal welfare standards, strong environmental protection, traceability and sustainability. These are strong selling points for consumers both at home and abroad. We welcome efforts from all parts of the food chain to promote and source local, British products and it is encouraging that many supermarkets are already taking steps to do so. We are engaging with retailers to identify opportunities to further strengthen their offer on locally sourced food.The Government is committed to optimising food information so that consumers can make informed choices. Origin information is provided voluntarily for the majority of dairy products, and the Government is exploring ways in which we can strengthen existing origin regulations and provide clearer information to consumers. Industry assurance schemes such as Red Tractor can also help to build consumer confidence in producers who can comply with specific health, welfare or environmental standards. Other voluntary schemes, such as the front of pack traffic light scheme also play an important role in communicating information to shoppers in a way that is easy to understand.

Cereals: Ukraine

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing seed for grain crops as direct aid to farmers in Ukraine.

Mark Spencer: The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is in the process of buying Ukrainian grain to ship straight to countries benefitting from its programme. Following close discussions with key seed supplier organisations on the ground in Ukraine, our assessment is that growers are particularly seeking maize and sunflower seed, however they have been currently receiving sufficient supplies of these through countries such as Germany. The UK does not hold significant surplus stocks of these species; however, key seed supplier organisations have confirmed that there are surpluses of other seeds, including for vegetables and cereals, and these have been offered as part of a broader support package to Ukraine. We are also supporting countries on the frontline of the food crisis. In June, the Prime Minister committed £372 million at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (GHOGM) for emergency aid and agricultural innovation. The UK is also a major contributor to the UN’s World Food Programme, providing the equivalent of USD 302.3 million to the fund so far this year. We remain committed to supporting Ukraine and we are in constant communication with the Ukrainian government to ensure that any aid is targeted to where it is needed most.

Dairy Products: Exports

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage (a) innovation and (b) domestic processing capacity in the UK dairy industry in order that that industry is able to maximise opportunities presented by emerging markets.

Mark Spencer: The Government is committed to encouraging a thriving, innovative, and globally competitive dairy industry where farms can be profitable and environmentally sustainable without subsidy. We will always champion our dairy sectors, supporting them to produce, sell, and export more of our great British food.The Government is supporting investment in productivity-boosting equipment, technology and infrastructure. The Farming Investment Fund, which opened in November 2021, provides grants to farmers, including dairy farmers, that will help their businesses to prosper.Innovation in agriculture also ensures that British dairy farmers remain globally competitive. Through our £270 million Farming Innovation Programme, dairy farmers in England can apply for funding to develop new, innovative methods and technologies. Amongst others, we are funding projects to develop autonomous livestock monitoring systems and new ways to process slurry to convert it into fertiliser.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: EU Law

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many officials in their Department are working on Retained EU Law legislation.

Mark Spencer: Coordinating work related to the proposed Retained EU Law (Reform and Revocation) Bill is spread across several teams in Defra, with cumulative staff time spent on this work amounting to approximately three FTE officials. In addition, Defra policy officials and legal officials are supporting this work as part of their normal business activities.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Termination of Employment

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many members of staff have left his Department since 12 December 2019.

Mark Spencer: Since 12 December 2019 to 13 September 2022, 2148 staff have left the department.

Fertilisers: Prices

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to help tackle the impact of rising fertiliser prices on food production.

Mark Spencer: Fertilisers make up around 9% of input costs into food production. Food prices are influenced by a range of factors - from currency fluctuations to commodity prices. We are monitoring the situation closely, including through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group. Defra is in regular contact with key industry figures including the National Farmers Union, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board and the Agricultural Industries Confederation. Defra is also working with these bodies on how fertiliser price transparency can be improved in order to aid farmers with their decision making.Through the minister led Fertiliser Industry Taskforce, the Government and industry will work together to improve market confidence and help provide farmers with the information needed to make business decisions on fertiliser use. To support farmers the 2022 Basic Payment Scheme payment will be made in 2 instalments to give farmers an advance injection of cash. Other actions taken include changes to guidance on farmers using manures, and increased grants for farmers and growers, boosting research and development.

Energy: Prices

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of rising energy prices on food producers.

Mark Spencer: The food supply chain is under pressure due to multiple and concurrent pressures including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and rising costs for producers (including energy and raw materials). Given sustained pressures, we anticipate food prices continuing to trend upwards in the short term.UK food supply remains secure and supply chain resilience remains excellent. We are aware of potential impacts of rising energy costs to the food and drinks industry. Defra works closely with industry and other Government Departments to monitor, assess and respond where appropriate to mitigate these pressures. The Prime Minister has made clear that we will deal with energy bills and secure our future energy supply.

Agriculture: Employment

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the demand for farm machinery operatives in the agricultural sector; and what recent discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the recruitment of skilled agricultural workforce from overseas.

Mark Spencer: Defra continues to speak regularly with the agricultural sector and other Government departments, including the Department for Education, to understand labour supply and demand, including both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements, and to ensure there is a long-term strategy for the agricultural workforce. Attracting bright new talent into agricultural and horticultural careers and having a skilled workforce in place is vital for the future of UK food and farming. By raising awareness of agriculture as an exciting and attractive career path, people will understand the opportunities available to them.During 2021, Defra undertook a review of automation in horticulture, covering both the edible and ornamental sectors in England. We have now published this review (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defra-led-review-of-automation-in-horticulture) and there will be a Government response to its recommendations. Our responses to the review of automation in horticulture will work alongside the extended and expanded Seasonal Worker Visa Route and Defra’s efforts to attract more UK residents into agricultural work – to support the overall aim of reducing the sector’s dependency on seasonal migrant labour.On 1 January 2021 free movement ended and was replaced with the UK’s Points Based System, under which EU and non-EU citizens are treated equally. The Skilled Worker route is open to all nationals who wish to come to the UK for the purpose of working in a skilled job they have been offered; with people awarded points for a job offer at an appropriate skill level, meeting the appropriate salary threshold and if they speak English to an appropriate level.

Farmers: Apprentices

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to incorporate farming apprenticeships into its policies on national food (a) security and (b) strategy.

Mark Spencer: Defra continues to speak regularly with the agricultural sector and other Government departments, including the Department for Education, and industry bodies to understand labour supply and demand, including both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements, and to ensure there is a long-term strategy for the agricultural workforce. As announced in the Government Food Strategy in June, the Government has now commissioned an independent review which will consider how automation, domestic labour and migrant labour can contribute to tackling labour shortages in the food supply chain. As part of domestic labour, we will consider recruitment, retention, skills and progression in the food sector. The review will focus on farming, processing, and food and drink manufacturing as sectors which are critical for food production and food security. There are currently 40 high-quality apprenticeship standards available in the agriculture, environmental and animal care sector, including stockperson, crop technician and horticulture & landscape technical manager.

Food: Insects

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help remove obstacles to the growth of the edible insect industry in the UK.

Mark Spencer: The Government recognises the role the alternative protein sector could have in contributing to UK growth. As stated in the Government's Food Strategy, through funding we will support progress on a wide range of issues, including alternative proteins. We will also work with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to develop dedicated guidance materials for approval of new alternative protein products while reviewing our novel food regulations. This will ensure they are transparent for innovators and investors, whilst maintaining world-leading consumer safety standards.In addition, the FSA is aiming to introduce a legislative fix this year to permit edible insect sellers to continue to sell several species while they submit applications for authorisation under the novel food regulations. Novel foods normally require pre-market authorisation but the FSA plans to fix transitional arrangements from the EU retained law to allow necessary time to demonstrate the safety of these products. There are very few restrictions required on the use of insects as feed.

Agricultural Products: Imports

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what body has responsibility for testing produce that enters the UK.

Mark Spencer: There are two enforcement authorities at the border. The enforcement authority for live animals, plants and plant products is the Animal and Plant Health Agency, and for products of animal origin it is the local Port Health Authority. Each is responsible for documentary, identity and physical checks which includes sampling for diagnosis tests.

Pesticides: Standards

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to introduce pesticide risk reduction targets by the end of 2022.

Mark Spencer: Defra is investigating the role of targets to reduce the risks and impacts of pesticide use, as part of the ongoing work on the National Action Plan (NAP) for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides, to be published later this year. Measuring progress remains key to Defra’s pesticides policy – to ensure that we understand the impact of our policies over time and can spot emerging issues. Defra recently published research on the development of a UK Pesticide Load Indicator (PLI), which combines data on pesticide use with information on environmental toxicity and fate. This is an improvement on the current system, which just considers the amount of pesticides applied, and the PLI trajectory will be one measure of whether we are succeeding in reducing the environmental pressure associated with pesticide use over time.

Cereals: Overseas Trade

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the impact of the market share of (a) Cargill, (b) Archer Daniels Midland Company, (c) Bunge Limited and (d) Louis Dreyfus Company in the global trade of grain on food resilience; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with representatives of (a) Cargill, (b) Archer Daniels Midland Company, (c) Bunge Limited and (d) Louis Dreyfus Company since December 2021.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to (a) call for (i) Cargill, (ii) Archer Daniels Midland, (iii) Bunge and (iv) Louis Dreyfus to publish information on how much grain those companies hold in reserve, (b) take steps to ensure that those companies are unable to control the supply of grain stocks in ways that unbalance food markets and drive food insecurity and (c) support a windfall tax on large agrifood company profits; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Spencer: It is not for the UK Government to comment on companies' day-to-day commercial decisions, commercially sensitive business information, or their ownership structures.The UK is instead engaging with likeminded partners through multi-lateral forums including the WTO, UN and G7 to build consensus on the importance of keeping markets open to support global food security.I am proud to say that the UK's high degree of food security is built on a supply of diverse sources: strong domestic production, as well as imports through stable trade routes. In terms of cereal production, the UK is highly self-sufficient with 88% of cereals consumed in the UK in 2020 produced domestically. The UK also produced 14 million tonnes of wheat in 2021, close to the volume of wheat consumed, and has stocks of 1.7 million tonnes.I am committed to ensure balanced food markets and ensure food stability, both at home and abroad. Together with the Devolved Administrations, Defra has established the UK Agricultural Market Monitoring Group (UKAMMG), which monitors and assesses the impact of market development across all key agricultural commodities, including grain, enabling it to provide a forewarning of any atypical market movements. Furthermore, the UK's membership in the International Grains Council also allows the Government to monitor global price, volatility, and stock levels, and we benefit from the regular provision of detailed statistical information and analysis of world grain and oilseed production, demand, and trade.

Agricultural Products: Imports

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Border Control Points are planned to be (a) approved or (b) developed in the next 12 months; and where those points will be located.

Mark Spencer: Commercial port operators may bring forward plans to develop Border Control Posts at any time. Need for additional support will be assessed following publication of the Target Operating Model.

Agricultural Products: UK Trade with EU

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to increase testing of produce entering the UK from the EU for pesticide residues.

Mark Spencer: The Government currently has no plans to make changes to the current monitoring regime for testing food for pesticide residues. The Government’s priority regarding pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) employs a wide range of monitoring and intelligence-led enforcement activities to ensure that the supply and use of pesticides complies with legal requirements. This includes a robust annual pesticide residue monitoring programme which is representative of the country’s food supply. All agri-food products imported into the UK under existing and future free trade agreements must comply with our rules on pesticide maximum residue levels (MRLs). The regulations set strict controls on the amounts of pesticide residues that are permitted in food to ensure the safety of consumers.  The maximum permitted residue levels are always set below, and usually well below, the level considered to be safe for consumers.

Agricultural Products: Imports

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Border Control Points were operational on 2 September 2022; where each of those points was located; and whether those points were fully staffed and funded.

Mark Spencer: Operational Border Control Posts are published on gov.uk at UK border control posts: animal and animal product imports - GOV.UK for live animals and animal products, and for plants at Plant imports: authorised border control posts in the UK - GOV.UK.  These checks are undertaken by staff from APHA and PHAs and they are self-funded through the charging mechanisms.

Bread: Labelling

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps with (a) his Cabinet colleagues and (b) his counterparts in the devolved administrations and their corresponding agencies to ensure that proposals for full ingredient declaration and meaningful, legal definitions of commonly-used marketing terms as set out in the Real Bread Campaign's proposals published on 18 March 2022 for an Honest Crust Act are fully reflected in the public consultation which opened on 1 September 2022 on amending the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 and the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998.

Mark Spencer: The UK Government and the Devolved Administrations committed to carry out a review of Bread and Flour Regulations across the UK. The key proposals agreed for change are outlined in a public consultation published on 1 September 2022 which is open for responses until 23 November 2022. These proposals which were agreed across government, and with the Devolved Administrations, address the most pressing aspects identified for change including the addition of mandatory folic acid to flour to prevent neural tube defects in foetuses.Full ingredient listing is already required for all prepacked foods with loose foods subject to certain derogations for practical reasons. An update of existing guidance around commonly used marketing terms across all foods is planned for the future.

Agriculture: Standards

Selaine Saxby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing an accreditation body to approve and administer standards for nature markets for the purposes of enabling farmers and land managers to realise new revenue streams.

Mark Spencer: The Government is committed to scaling up private investment in sustainable farming and nature recovery. Robust standards and accreditation arrangements are already established for some ecosystem service markets, namely though the UK Woodland Carbon Code and UK Peatland Code. We are exploring with the British Standards Institute other opportunities to support standards' development in order to unlock investment for a broader suite of sustainable farming and nature recovery activities.

Scotland Office

Transport: North West

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent progress the Government has made on improving transport connections between Scotland and the North West.

Mr Alister Jack: This Government is committed to forging and strengthening transport bonds that will create a more cohesive and connected United Kingdom. Connections between the North West of England and Scotland are a popular and indeed essential link for citizens on business and enjoying leisure time in many of our great cities and towns. The Government is grateful to Sir Peter Hendy for his independent Union Connectivity Review which details a number of recommendations that would improve links between Scotland and North West England. One example is the A75, a route of significant importance for people and businesses in terms of UK connectivity, linking Northern Ireland and North West England via Scotland.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many payments were fraudulently charged to the budgets of (a) his Department and (b) Downing Street using electronic purchasing cards in the financial years (i) 2019-20, (ii) 2020-21 and (iii) 2021-22; and what was the total value of fraudulent payments (A) made and (B) recovered in each of those years.

Edward Argar: For the purposes of reporting Cabinet Office and Downing Street are the same entity so separate figures cannot be provided. It is cardholders and their line managers duty to check all ePCS transactions promptly and notify the bank of any fraudulent activity. The total value of fraud reported through the use of purchasing cards is as below. YearNumber of CasesValueValue Recovered2019/204£931.09£931.092020/211£707.00£707.002021/22000

Refugees: Hitchin and Harpenden

Bim Afolami: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if his Department will make an estimate of the number of Ukrainian refugees who are in work in Hitchin and Harpenden constituency as on 2 September 2022.

Edward Argar: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.A response to the hon. Member’s Parliamentary Question of 2nd September is attached. UKSA letter response to PQ45693 (pdf, 112.9KB)

Overseas Trade: Somaliland

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish recent statistics on the volume of trade between Somaliland and the UK.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish details of the UK's main (a) exports to and (b) imports from Somaliland.

Edward Argar: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.A response to the hon. Member’s Parliamentary Question of 6 September is attached. UKSA letter response to PQ48521 and 48522 (pdf, 105.4KB)

Blood: Contamination

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to Sir Brian Langstaff’s interim report on the Infected Blood Inquiry, if he will make it his policy to adopt the report’s recommendation that interim payments should be immediately made to those infected and affected by contaminated blood.

Edward Argar: I refer the Hon. member to the answer given to PQ 42184 on 6 September 2022.

Treasury

Tobacco: Taxation

Damien Moore: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Government’s response to the Science and Technology Committee’s report on e-cigarettes, published in December 2018, whether it continues to be the Government’s policy that taxation on smoking-related products should directly correspond to the health risks presented to encourage less harmful consumption.

Felicity Buchan: The Government believes that e-cigarettes are an effective way of encouraging smokers to switch to less harmful alternatives. Non-tobacco nicotine and vaping products, such as e-cigarettes, are currently taxed as a consumer product with the VAT rate being 20%. They are not subject to excise duty. Medicinally regulated products are subject to the reduced rate of VAT at 5%.

Cost of Living: Hitchin and Harpenden

Bim Afolami: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help support people in Hitchin and Harpenden constituency with rises in the cost of living in the period between August 2021 and August 2022.

Bim Afolami: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of rises in the cost of living on people in Hitchin and Harpenden constituency.

Bim Afolami: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help support people in Hitchin and Harpenden constituency with rises in the cost of living in the period after August 2022.

Chris Philp: The government understands that people across the UK are worried about the rising cost of living and are seeing their disposable incomes decrease as they spend more on the essentials. On 8 September, government announced that the energy price cap will be superseded with a new Energy Price Guarantee, which means that a typical UK household will pay no more than £2500 a year on their energy bill over the next 2 years from 1 October. The Government will also introduce a six-month scheme to support businesses, charities and public sector organisations, which will protect them from soaring energy costs and provide them with the certainty they need to plan their business through the acute crisis this winter. This announcement comes in addition to the previously announced support. Eight million of the most vulnerable households, including those in Hitchin and Harpenden, will see £1,200 extra support in Cost of Living Payments, provided in instalments across the year, with additional support for pensioners and those claiming disability benefits. This includes the £400 support through the Energy Bills Support Scheme – available to all households. We continue to monitor a range of cost of living pressures and their impacts, and later this month the Chancellor will set out a package of measures to deliver on the Prime Minister’s commitment to cut taxes and boost growth, laying the groundwork for the change we need in the long term to make our economy stronger.

Cost of Living: Wales

Ruth Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with Ministers in the Welsh Government on the rising cost of living.

Chris Philp: HMT Ministers regularly meet with representatives from the Welsh Government and recent meetings have focussed on the cost of living. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury is the Minister with responsibility for devolved administration funding. The former Chief Secretary to the Treasury discussed the UK and devolved governments’ approaches to cost of living on a number of recent occasions, including at the Finance Interministerial Standing Committee (F:ISC) meeting on 15 June and at the Interministerial Standing Committee (IMSC) meeting on 29 June.

Public Sector: Energy

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for (a) Health and Social Care, (b) Education and (c) Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the levels of funding required to ensure that (i) schools, (ii) nurseries, (iii) colleges, (iv) hospitals, (v) providers of social care and (vi) other providers of essential public services are able to afford the increased cost of energy; if he will make it his policy to provide additional funding to help those public services meet their energy costs; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Philp: We recognise that many private and public sector organisations are exposed to high energy costs driven by global factors. The Government will introduce a six-month scheme to support businesses, charities and public sector organisations, comparable to the scheme being provided for consumers. This will protect them from soaring energy costs through the acute crisis this winter and provide them with the certainty they need to plan.

Economic Situation: Wales

Ruth Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with representatives from the Welsh Government on the state of the UK economy.

Chris Philp: HMT Ministers meet regularly with representatives from the Welsh Government to discuss the state of the UK economy. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury is the Minister with responsibility for devolved administration funding. The former Chief Secretary to the Treasury attended a Finance Interministerial Standing Committee meeting on 15 June and a meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Standing Committee on 29 June, together with Welsh Government Ministers, where discussions covered the latest economic outlook. The former Chief Secretary to the Treasury also held a bilateral meeting with the Welsh Government Minister for Finance and Local Government ahead of the F:ISC meeting on 15 June where economic and fiscal matters were raised.

Domestic Visits: Wales

Ruth Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many times he has visited Wales since July 2022.

Felicity Buchan: In his role as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadim Zahawi visited Wales once since July 2022 on the 12 August 2022.

Domestic Visits: Northern Ireland

Ruth Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many times he has visited Northern Ireland since July 2022.

Felicity Buchan: In his role as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadim Zahawi visited Northern Ireland once since July 2022 on 10 August 2022.

Treasury: Termination of Employment

Ruth Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many members of staff have left his Department since 12 December 2019.

Felicity Buchan: As at 6th September 2022, for staff who would be included in HM Treasury’s overall reported full time equivalent headcount figures, there have been 879 leavers between 12/12/2019 and 06/09/2022.

Small Businesses: Finance

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help unlock capital for SMEs in Britain.

Felicity Buchan: The Government has a wide range of levers to help SMEs across the country access the capital they need to thrive and grow. The British Business Bank brings together a range of programmes, spanning debt and equity finance as well as regional funds, which help ensure that financial markets are working for SMEs. These programmes are supporting over £10.8 billion of finance to over 93,000 SMEs across the UK. The Government provides three tax-advantaged venture capital schemes: the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs). These schemes are designed to encourage investment in higher-risk, early-stage companies which face some of the biggest challenges in accessing growth capital. The Government is also working with industry to identify and address barriers to institutional investment into a broader range of assets, which could help unlock more capital for UK SMEs and improve returns for pension savers.

Fuels: Excise Duties

Bim Afolami: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that retailers pass on the savings from the reduction in Fuel Duty to consumers.

Felicity Buchan: The Government has been clear that it expects all those in the supply chain to pass through the fuel duty cut to consumers buying fuel at the pump. This summer, the independent Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) undertook an urgent review of the market for road fuel. Their initial findings suggest that the fuel duty cut appears to have been largely passed through. The Government will await further findings from the CMA.

Off-payroll Working

Julian Knight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his Department will publish a summary of the responses to its November 2021 consultation on the umbrella company market.

Richard Fuller: The Government ran a Call for Evidence on the umbrella company market to ensure it has a detailed and up to date understanding of the market. This Call for Evidence, which was issued jointly by HM Treasury, HMRC, and the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, closed on 22 February 2022. Government officials across the three departments are working closely together to consider the evidence submitted and will publish the Government's response in due course.

Revenue and Customs: Flexible Working

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing HMRC's working from home allowance in the context of rising energy prices; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Fuller: Eligible employees can claim tax relief on the allowance of £6 per week without the need to provide evidence of expenditure. The amount was increased from £4 per week in April 2020. However, employees who are eligible for tax relief for working from home can claim relief on the actual amount of additional household costs, providing they can provide evidence of the increased amount. As with all aspect of the tax system, the Government will keep tax reliefs under review and any decisions on future changes will be taken in the context of the wider public finances.

Taxpayer Protection Taskforce

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the grading structure applied to the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce is; and how many employees were in each grade as of 1 September 2022.

Richard Fuller: At the Spring Budget 2021, the Government announced a £100 million investment to form the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce. This enabled HMRC to significantly extend work to tackle fraud and error in the COVID-19 support schemes that HMRC administered (Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Eat Out to Help Out). These payments were grants rather than loans. HMRC does not administer or undertake compliance of other COVID-19 financial support packages, such as Bounce Back Loans.The taskforce was funded for 1,265 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff selected from those who have tax training and compliance experience. Once they joined, the taskforce staff were provided with additional training on the COVID-19 schemes.As of 31 July 2022, there were 1,203 FTE in the taskforce made up of the below grades: GradesFTESCS1.2G68.04G730.73SO121.46HO487.76O511.01AO42.64CCG Total1202.84

Disguised Remuneration Loan Charge Review

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Independent Loan Charge Review: report on the policy and its implementation, published in December 2019, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of access to information given to Lord Morse to enable him to report on HMRC’s approach to implementing the Loan Charge.

Richard Fuller: The Independent Loan Charge Review, led by Lord Morse, drew upon all the available evidence and expert advice to consider the appropriateness of the Loan Charge as a policy response, and its impact on individuals, reflecting the main concerns that had been raised by MPs and campaigners. Lord Morse had full discretion over how the review was run, which stakeholders he engaged with, and the recommendations he made. The Government recognised the concerns raised by the Review and accepted all but one of the Review’s 20 recommendations. The Government implemented a number of changes to the Loan Charge which were enacted in Finance Act 2020. On 3 December 2020, HMRC published a full report to Parliament on the implementation of the review recommendations. This report set out how HMRC has delivered the 19 recommendations which were accepted by the Government.

Council Tax: Appeals

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of council tax challenges submitted to the Valuation Office Agency have been (a) checked and (b) reviewed within the service level agreement in each of the past 12 months for which there is data.

Richard Fuller: The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has an internal target to clear 98 per cent of Council Tax proposals and informal Council Tax band reviews within two months. The statutory deadline to clear proposals is four months, and currently 98 per cent of cases are cleared within this deadline. Following the former Chancellor’s announcement around the Council Tax rebate in February, the volume of Council Tax work has substantially increased. In particular, the VOA has seen an increase in demand for band reviews of over 75 per cent compared to the same period in 2021. The VOA is working hard to reduce volumes as quickly as possible and has assigned additional staff resource to this activity. The VOA is prioritising reducing the number of outstanding older cases first. The impact of this is that, on average, it is currently taking the VOA around two and a half months to clear proposals, and just under three months to clear band reviews. The tables below show the number and percentage of proposals and band reviews resolved within two months of receipt, and proposals resolved within the statutory deadline. Council Tax Proposals ReceivedTotal resolvedResolved within 2 months of receipt% within 2 months (98% internal target)% within 4 months (Statutory Deadline)  CumulativeSep-212,4602,2402,22097%99%Oct-212,7002,2102,19097%99%Nov-212,3402,7902,75097%99%Dec-211,7302,2702,20096%99%Jan-222,2002,3502,03094%99%Feb-222,6801,9201,79094%99%Mar-223,4102,3302,01092%99%Apr-222,4501,6701,00086%100%May-222,6302,25069075%100%Jun-222,4502,42039069%100%Jul-222,4202,14046064%98%Aug-222,2802,19039060%98% Informal Council Tax Band Reviews  ReceivedTotal resolvedResolved within 2 months of receipt% within 2 months (98% internal target) CumulativeSep-2164066061080%Oct-2175073065080%Nov-2190064057081%Dec-2155056051079%Jan-2293067055076%Feb-223,46082065076%Mar-224,8702,1701,57075%Apr-222,7901,66089065%May-222,7702,31052045%Jun-221,8801,69022039%Jul-221,4001,48021036%Aug-221,1901,55016034%

Taxpayer Protection Taskforce: Staff

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full time equivalent officials were deployed to the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce in the financial year 2021-22; and what the staff complement is for that taskforce as at 1 September 2022.

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many prosecutions have resulted from the investigations of the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce as of 1 September 2022; and how many investigations have been concluded and are waiting to be progressed by the courts.

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the overall budget for the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce was in financial year 2021-22 for (a) staffing, (b) operations and (c) legal and court proceedings; and what the budget projections are for financial year 2022-23 for each of those categories.

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value of loans is that have been recovered by the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce through successful prosecutions in (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23.

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many suspected fraud cases have been investigated by the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce; how many of those cases (a) have since been dropped or (b) will not result in prosecution; and what the value is of loans unpaid which will not be recovered in relation to the cases which have been dropped.

Richard Fuller: At the Spring Budget 202,1 the Government announced a £100 million investment to form the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce. This enabled HMRC to significantly extend work to tackle fraud and error in the COVID-19 support schemes that HMRC administered (Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Eat Out to Help Out). These payments are grants rather than loans. HMRC does not administer or undertake compliance of other COVID-19 financial support packages, such as Bounce Back Loans. The £100 million funding covers backfilling the staff used to resource the taskforce. In 2021-22 the taskforce had £41million allocated to the staffing budget and is forecasting £59 million in staffing for 2022-23. During 2021-22, the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce consisted of 1,147 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) compliance officers, reassigned from other teams across HMRC. As of 31 July 2022, there are 1,203 FTE in the taskforce. HMRC designed the Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Eat Out to Help Out schemes to prevent fraud, both in the eligibility criteria and the claim process itself. HMRC also put in place a series of checks on claims before they were paid, blocking those that were highly indicative of criminal activity. The Government and HMRC are taking tough action to tackle fraudulent behaviour. Anyone who keeps grant money despite knowing they were not entitled to it faces having to repay up to double the amount they received, plus interest, and potentially face criminal prosecution. The Taxpayer Protection Taskforce undertakes one-to-one investigations where there is a suspected overpayment of an HMRC administered COVID-19 grant. These overpayments may be due to error or fraud, therefore the total number of investigations opened and concluded does not distinguish between error and fraud. As of 31 July 2022, the total number of investigations opened since the start of the schemes is over 45,000, of which c.31,000 have been concluded. The taskforce opened over 32,000 one to one investigations in addition to the c.13,000 one to one investigations opened prior to the taskforce being formed. These investigations are carried out using HMRC’s civil powers and do not involve prosecution. By 31 March 2022, HMRC have recovered around £762 million of overclaimed grants. This is in addition to £425 million prevented from being paid out incorrectly and £970 million returned by claimants because they did not need the grant or they identified they had overclaimed without HMRC taking action. In addition, HMRC carries out criminal investigations in the most serious cases of fraud. As of 31 July 2022, there has been 1 successful prosecution for fraud on the HMRC administered COVID-19 support schemes. HMRC also has 30 active criminal investigations that involve suspected COVID-19 scheme fraud and the final decision on whether to prosecute in these cases will be made by independent prosecution partners.